_
DRIFTING_LIFE
.
“: 17
have been cau_ght, or enoughto ll ten pint—tumblers Solid.
Again, near Iceland, 200,000 have been recorded-frein
ve minutes’
.
.
‘
'Î
'
,
,
‘
_
There are many other species of copepods but none to
compare With Calanus in importance, although many far
excel it in beauty, especially Some of thosethat come from
_
warmer
and more tropical Climes.
Some of these are
equipped with the most beautiful ar”rayof feathery spines ;
others are iridescent and shine with all-the colours of the
rainbow (Plate 41).
;_
'
-
.
-
But next in importance -as food for other” marine animals,
if not perhaps the most important, are shrimp—like animals
that, like Calanus, are rarely seen and almost completely
'
unknown to the world in general.
These are known as
euphausiids, or “ krill,” as they
by the Nor—
wegians.
They areabout an inch and a half in length, but
are so abundant,thät they form a large_part of thefood
of many 0f.the northernrä-shes, and are __the chief food of
nearly all of the whal‘ebone:whales. :-Thëirbodies are quite
transparent except for the
minute red spots,
and they possess enormous black eyes and on
this account
'
the shermen of the west coasts of Scotland call them
“‘.Suil dhu ”_ or "‘
eye
”
(Plate 45). But they are
'
mest remarkable because along the sides of their bodies
are numerous
organs that can blaze up into brilliant
phosphorescence— at
will be said about this
phosphorescehce under Chapter VIII, but sufce it to say
.
that it has been recorded that with six of these little
animals in a jar of water, ashing on their lights, it is just
possible to read newspaper print 1…
There ”are,. besides,
many
microscopic, single-celled
animals dWelling in the ,drifting community. Of these,
'
perhaps, the group 0f"äimalsïknown as Radiolarians are 01 '
the greatest interest.
little unicellular Creatures